


Changing Season's Chance

by VigoGrimborne



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Humor, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29761425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VigoGrimborne/pseuds/VigoGrimborne
Summary: It's Winter on Dragon's Edge, and most of the dragons have gone to mate and lay their eggs, as they do every year. This makes the arrival of one all the more surprising, especially for Toothless... and Snotlout? One-shot
Kudos: 2





	Changing Season's Chance

_**Author's Note:** _ **It's been a while since I published a one-shot (in this fandom), hasn't it? I had better correct that injustice. Enjoy!**

The wind howled, snow flurries swirled, and two dark figures flew in the blackest of nights, heedless of the storm clouds blocking the stars.

Hiccup's hands were cold, clutching the saddle, and he was already deciding to make full-on gloves for flying in the depths of Winter. For the moment, he would bear it, but if Toothless needed more cheering-up flights in the near future, he wanted to be prepared.

The dragon beneath him flipped, and he found himself upside down. A dense gust of wind smacked him in the face and he closed his eyes, operating the tailfin by feel alone. His ears were freezing too, despite the mask.

"Cheered up yet?" Hiccup yelled hopefully. It was dark and wet and cold out, and he hadn't thought to set up a roaring fire in his hut before they left. Toothless could start one easily enough, but out in the cold as he was at the moment, that didn't seem quite as good as already having one available.

Toothless flipped again, diving down as he moved. The entirety of the Edge was laid out in the distance, a few pinpricks of light denoting what would otherwise be just another dark, lumpy island as their current home.

"I t-take that as a yes," Hiccup stuttered, his teeth clacking together. He hunched closer to the saddle, and for good measure closed his eyes. He _definitely_ needed some sort of helmet to keep the wind off his face.

Toothless fired out a shot and dove through it, warming them both for all of a few heartbeats. He grumbled loudly as the wind and snow stole away the heat and began flying faster, in the direction of the outpost, the Dragon's Edge.

At one point on the way back, Hiccup felt as if there were eyes on him. The feeling was so strong that he sat up and turned around in the saddle, wondering if one of the other dragons was coming back early. They had all, with the exception of Toothless, left for the yearly mating season, but it was possible one was back already.

The dark, blustery sky behind them held absolutely nothing that he could see, though. Not that he could see much. More importantly, there were no loud calls of recognition, as he would expect from any of the other riders' dragons.

A chill ran down his spine, and he turned back around. "Let's get home quick," he said only to see that they were already almost there.

The sight of his dark hut amidst the snowy night wasn't an appealing one, not compared to the inexplicable fire lit in the clubhouse. Toothless was angling for there, and Hiccup wholeheartedly approved, both because he was freezing and because he wanted to see who was still up. Nobody left fires burning in there, not unattended.

Toothless alit on the wooden walkway in front of the clubhouse with a solid thump and noisily barged inside without letting Hiccup off. He huddled up next to the firepit without hesitation, shaking himself to be rid of the snow.

Hiccup slid off his side, actually _sliding_ as the frost that had accumulated on both of them deprived him of any friction whatsoever, and fell awkwardly.

A loud, snorting snore rose from a chair on the other side of the firepit, one followed by the distinct sound of someone choking on their own spittle.

"What the…" Hiccup rose, brushing his lower body off with stiff hands, and saw that Snotlout was even then waking up. "Snotlout?"

"Up and at it and give me more of the twins' mead," Snotlout mumbled, reaching out for an empty flask and knocking it off the table. Toothless winced as it crashed to the ground, and cast Snotlout an unamused glare.

"Great, drunk Snotlout," Hiccup said. "Well, could be worse." He wasn't that surprised. They were Vikings and Snotlout embraced that side of things on occasion, whenever they got mead all the way out here. He'd be suffering through a headache and likely some twin-wrought accidents in the morning, but at least tonight he'd provided them with a warm fire.

"Could be _you_ ," Snotlout slurred. "That'd be worse. Why're you here?"

"Warming up before we go back to my hut," Hiccup said matter-of-factly, holding his hands to the fire.

"Why's Toothless here?" Snotlout persisted, staring at something off to Hiccup's side.

"Same as me."

"Why's other Toothless here?" Snotlout asked.

"Same as… What?" Hiccup wondered whether there were more empty flasks of mead somewhere, then wondered if it was something stronger than mead, which now that he thought about it didn't usually come in flasks anyway. It had to be something strong if Snotlout was seeing double.

"Other Toothless," Snotlout repeated, pointing over Hiccup's shoulder. "There. Right there. Two of him."

"This'll teach you to steal from the twins, I guess," Hiccup muttered. That was his guess as to where Snotlout had gotten it, at least. It would be stolen, since he was drinking alone.

"Glaring at you," Snotlout continued. "Walking in through the door."

"Sure, sure," Hiccup said, wondering whether it was safe to leave Snotlout in the clubhouse for the rest of the night. It would only take five seconds of seeing things to get him to walk off a cliff, given how the Edge was designed, and Hookfang wasn't around to catch him.

"Shaking itself off," Snotlout said, just as Hiccup heard the distinct rustle of wings and scales rubbing against each other right behind him.

Hiccup looked to Toothless, and Toothless looked at him with wide eyes. They both turned around at the same time.

A jet-black Night Fury with yellow eyes stared warily at them. There were hints of frost still around its nose and ears, and a small pile of rapidly melting slush around its paws.

Hiccup had no words. Toothless' jaw dropped. Silence reigned–

Snotlout burped loudly. The noise was drawn out in the otherwise silent room, and the Night Fury wrinkled its nose at the smell that wafted over.

Toothless warbled quietly, hesitantly. The other Night Fury warbled back, then cast a wary glance at Hiccup.

Toothless wasn't having that; he hastily stuck a wing over Hiccup and pulled him close, rumbling loudly at the other dragon.

"Friends," Hiccup offered, his voice slightly muffled from the wing squashing him down. He pushed up on the membrane, and Toothless pushed right back down, not even looking at him. Hiccup understood that; his eyes were drawn to the rarity in front of them too.

The Night Fury considered them for a while, its gaze flicking from Toothless to Hiccup every so often.

"This is really boring," Snotlout complained.

The Night Fury looked over at Snotlout, acknowledging him for the first time, and then back at Toothless. Then it leaped over to Snotlout's side of the room.

Hiccup stuck a hand out helplessly and Toothless growled a warning. Snotlout drunkenly waved both arms right in front of the dragon's nose. For a moment, it looked like he would lose said arms.

Then the dragon hastily stuck a wing over him and copied Toothless, dragging Snotlout off of his chair and down to the ground, despite his protests. Hiccup's jaw dropped again.

"Nobody moves a Jorgenson," Snotlout complained, making no move to rise. "Nobody moves the room a Jorgenson is in… even if it's spinning already…"

The Night Fury warbled at Toothless, and Toothless warbled back, casting a glance at the exit. He looked down at Hiccup.

"Go on, do whatever it is you're thinking of," Hiccup said, waving him off and fleeing the cover of his wing. "Have fun. Don't freeze to death."

A snort and a tiny blast of flame in the firepit was Toothless' response. Another blast of flame was the follow-up from the other Fury, and then both were darting outside, to do… something. Hiccup had no idea what they were up to.

"If it wasn't so cold and dark out there, I would follow," he admitted. "Fishlegs is going to have a fit when he hears I didn't." He could almost hear the disappointed rant now. Hopefully, seeing another Night Fury would postpone it for a while.

Snotlout let out a rasping snore from the floor.

"Yeah, I'm not getting any sleep," he sighed. Maybe he could start working on his cold-weather gloves and helmet. That would at least keep his mind off the amazing creature Toothless had just run off with. Forget Fishlegs, he felt like lecturing _himself_ for not following.

* * *

Hiccup found himself outside when dawn broke, testing out his hastily assembled gloves to find their flaws. He waved at Astrid as she left her hut, and she waved back, beginning the trek across the Edge to him. She wasn't usually a morning person, but for her 'morning' in the Winter started long before the sun rose, so she was surprisingly normal when the rest of them bothered to get up.

The clouds were not clearing, but they were thinning and as Hiccup watched the sun began to burn through. By midday the sky would be mostly clear, if he had to guess. Not for long, never for long in the Winter, but it would be a good day for flying.

A subdued explosion marked the twins' beginning to every morning, and a small fire was quickly stamped out in front of their hut. He didn't know where they were hiding the Zippleback gas they had to have collected to fuel their daily ritual while Barf and Belch was away, but if it kept them happy, he wasn't inclined to take it away from them. That way led to singed eyebrows and vengeful twins–

Who would already be vengeful, once they found out Snotlout had stolen from them. Hiccup eyed the clubhouse, but Snotlout wasn't up yet. Hopefully he would be sober enough to figure out how to unbar the doors.

The person Hiccup most wanted to see wasn't around, either. He sighed and waved his hands through the air, feeling the way the leather he had stitched together let air through at the seams. It was as flawed as he had expected, but at least making it had helped him pass the sleepless night.

"Were you actually waving, or were you just trying to draw lines in the air?" Astrid asked, dropping down the last set of spindly stairs leading to his hut. "What are those even for?"

"They're just going to be gloves," he explained. "I want them wind-proof."

"Just gloves, sure," she laughed. "You'll have them coated in dragon-nip before the week is out."

Hiccup opened his mouth to object, then actually thought about it. "Maybe I could keep some _in_ the gloves, for emergencies," he mused. He was already pretty good with soothing dragons, but some just didn't take to nonaggression right away. He could have used the help of dragon nip on past missions...

"Case in point," Astrid said with a smirk.

"Yeah…" he sighed.

"Out with it," she said sternly. "What's wrong?"

"Absolutely nothing," he said firmly, tugging one of the gloves off as he remembered that she _didn't know_. Nobody did, apart from Snotlout who didn't count. A smile forced itself onto his face despite his lingering worry. "You will not _believe_ what happened last night."

A familiar roar rang out in the clear morning air before Hiccup could continue.

"Toothless sounds pleased," Astrid remarked. "So, what–"

Another roar, different in tone but similar in overall sound, overlaid his roar, following along and weaving into it. Toothless darted into sight, leaping from snowdrift to snowdrift as he ran across a wooden walkway, and the other Fury from the night before chased him, keeping right on his tail. The two ran around Fishlegs' hut twice, then scaled the stairs up to the twins' hut, then swarmed right up the wooden support posts leading to Astrid's hut, all the way up the hut itself.

Hiccup, his worries gone at the sight of his friend having the time of his life, turned to Astrid. It was, he decided, far more entertaining to see others blindsided by this than it was to be himself. "That," he said simply.

"Well," Astrid eventually managed, "that's good."

"Yes, good," Hiccup laughed, turning around to see… nothing. Toothless and the other Night Fury were gone. "Where'd they go?" He could see Fishlegs standing in front of his hut and looking around in confusion, and he could see the twins doing much the same, but the Night Furies might as well have vanished, which was especially weird given Toothless wasn't able to just fly around.

The dragons didn't reveal themselves, but Snotlout did, throwing the door to the clubhouse open with a crash. "Everyone shut up!" he yelled hoarsely, stomping his way toward Hiccup.

"He's hungover," Hiccup murmured, filling Astrid in. "Try to go easy on him."

"He's Snotlout, he doesn't deserve me going easy on anything," Astrid muttered.

"Hiccup," Snotlout said, "shut your dragon up! I am _not_ in the mood to hear that stupid roar."

"I don't even know where he is," Hiccup said helplessly, shrugging his shoulders. Not that he would shut Toothless up, or even _could_ if his friend felt like roaring, but it was easier to put Snotlout off with the obvious inability first. "Besides, don't you remember last night?"

"No," Snotlout said sullenly. "I think Ruffnut put something in the mead."

"That would just be what you get for drinking yourself silly," Astrid said scornfully.

"You really don't remember?" Hiccup pressed.

"No!" A horrified look passed over Snotlout. "Tell me I didn't sleep with one of the twins."

"You were alone," Hiccup assured him, doing his best to _not_ picture that. "But you did–"

Two twin thumps resounded from the top of his hut, and then Toothless was down between them, and his friend right behind him. Toothless purred and nudged Hiccup's hand.

The other Night Fury watched, then did the same to a stock-still Snotlout.

"Hiccup, what _exactly_ happened last night?" Astrid asked.

"What she said," Snotlout said breathlessly. He looked torn between confusion and terror, surprisingly enough.

Hiccup could see the other riders all rapidly approaching, so he waited long enough for them to be in earshot. "Last night, Toothless and I were followed home," he announced. "That's pretty much all there is to it."

"Nah," Ruffnut said, somehow managing to sound casual despite panting from the sprint across the Edge to reach them. She slumped against the door to Hiccup's hut. "Snotlout's involved, obviously."

"Obviously," Tuffnut echoed. "Or the new Night Fury likes the smell of our homebrew mead. We will be exacting a terrible price for that, by the way."

"Jump off a cliff, Tuffnut," Snotlout said absently. "So…" He looked down at the yellow-eyed Night Fury's head. It looked back up at him.

Snotlout took a step back, and the Fury immediately followed him. Hiccup distinctly heard Astrid groan under her breath, and he understood why. He hadn't expected _this_ either.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Snotlout asked nobody in particular.

"It _looks_ like-" Fishlegs began.

"No!" Astrid exclaimed, cutting him off so loudly that both Furies looked at her. "This doesn't mean anything except…" She trailed off.

"Except what, Astrid?" Snotlout asked gleefully, his voice cracking. "Except this?"

He stuck his hand out, palm forward, and the new Night Fury obligingly sniffed it, then pressed its nose into his hand. Fishlegs' gasp was clearly audible.

Snotlout looked up, his eyes practically beaming pure joy, and pumped his other fist. "Ha!" he yelled.

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything," Astrid objected.

Said fist turned into a pointing finger aimed at Astrid. "Ha!" Snotlout repeated joyously.

"Use your words, Snotlout," Astrid said scathingly.

"Ha!" he replied. He took a few more steps backward, headed in the general direction of the rest of the island, and the Night Fury followed. Then he bolted, running off toward the path leading into the island proper, laughing wildly.

"So, Toothless," Hiccup drawled. "You're okay with this?"

Toothless snorted, taking his eyes from the rapidly fleeing pair, and yawned cavernously. His wings drooped as he ambled to the door of their hut, shoved it open, and disappeared inside.

"I don't know what to say now," Hiccup admitted, feeling everyone's eyes on him the moment Toothless disappeared from sight.

"Neither did Snotlout," Heather said, speaking up for the first time since arriving on the scene.

"Neither does Fishlegs," Ruffnut gleefully pointed out. "But only because he doesn't know what to ask first."

"Where did you find them?" Fishlegs burst out, prompted by Ruffnut. "Are they male or female? How did Toothless respond to seeing them?"

"They followed us home, I have no idea, shock," Hiccup listed. "You could go find Snotlout and observe for yourself."

"He'll be screaming incoherent triumph for the rest of the day," Tuffnut predicted. "Don't bother."

"You had _better_ find him," Astrid countered. "The moment he annoys that dragon enough that it realizes it's following an idiot, he's going to get ripped apart." She folded her arms across her chest.

* * *

Snotlout ran, because if he stood still he would explode with joy.

"Ha!" he yelled, running off the wooden walkway and into the beginning of the forest. "Ha!" he added, spinning to see the sleek, dangerous Night Fury his drunken self had so impressed that it wanted to be his dragon.

He stopped there, breathing heavily, and stared at the gods' reward for his awesomeness. It, – _he_ because of course his dragon would be male – was a Night Fury, black as pitch and with intimidating yellow eyes that totally beat Toothless' green ones any day. Not that Toothless was anything compared to this; _Snotlout's_ Night Fury had both tailfins.

His Night Fury was also staring curiously at him, and he pumped his fist victoriously. "Ha, take that!" he crowed. "Who has the best dragon _now_?" He knew being awesome would pay off eventually. There were so many things he could do with this…

Not that he could think of any at this exact moment, aside from collecting on the mean-spirited bet one of his cousins had made years ago, back when Hiccup having a Night Fury was new and their true rarity not so obvious. He couldn't do that because his cousin was still on Berk.

There was an idea. Flying. He held out his hand, and the Night Fury sniffed at it. Then he slung himself onto his new mount's neck–

The lack of horns, rough scales, or _anything_ to hold onto made itself, apparent, and he fell right off the other side. He hit the ground hard, rolled, and forced himself up again. "For real now," he grunted, slinging himself onto his awesome dragon's surprisingly slippery neck again, wishing he had something to grab onto. The ears would do, but they were so short.

His hands closed around the Night Fury's ears, and he _felt_ a deep, threatening growl vibrating underneath him. His new dragon had stood perfectly still up to now – another sign of how the gods meant for this to happen – but a moment after the warning growl they were yanked out of his hands and he found himself flying _without_ a dragon.

He hit a tree, but that wasn't enough to stop him. "No touching the ears, got it, I can work with that," he said, blinking until the world stopped spinning. "Let's go!"

The Night Fury gave him a look he would have said was amused, in another dragon, but it was his dragon so it had to be a look of enthusiastic agreement.

* * *

It was well past noon before anyone saw Snotlout again. Hiccup had had enough time to test his glove more thoroughly, mark down the weak points, and begin smithing the fine metal wires he wanted to use to strengthen it. He was outside by his miniature forge when a black, howling blur flew into view, and for a moment he had a vivid impression of what he and Toothless looked like in the sky.

Not what they looked like _now,_ though. What they had looked like back when neither he nor Toothless had no idea what he was doing with the prosthetic tailfin. Snotlout was barely hanging on, dangling from the neck of the Night Fury one moment, then from the tail the next, then somehow back on its back, _then_ being held by the scruff of his tunic as the Night Fury threw him back up.

Hiccup continued beating out the wire he needed, seeing that while Snotlout _looked_ like he was in danger of falling into the ice-cold ocean below, the Night Fury had it well in hand. He knew Toothless and by extension the reflexes and agility a Fury brought to the air. One not hampered by needing an operator for a tailfin would be even more capable of keeping their rider alive despite incompetence and a lack of a saddle.

The door to his hut creaked open, and Toothless wandered out, blinking rapidly.

"Morning," Hiccup said. "Afternoon, really, but it's the thought that counts."

Toothless snorted and leaped up onto the roof of the hut, where he settled down once more, his eyes on the sky and the cavorting duo it currently hosted. He barked once and received a bark in return from the other Fury, who turned, grabbed Snotlout by the ankles, and made a beeline for them.

Hiccup slammed the hammer down on his work one final time, seeing the writing on the wall, and tossed it into a barrel of water to cool off.

Snotlout hit the wooden walkway with a yelp, landing helmet-first, and the Night Fury quickly abandoned him to fly up to Toothless. The two churred, butted heads, and ran off, leaping down the hut and fleeing in the general direction of the shoreline.

"They're reminding me more and more of the twins every time they do something like that," Hiccup remarked as Snotlout stumbled to his feet.

"Where'd 'e go?" Snotlout asked, turning in a painstakingly slow circle.

"Somewhere." Hiccup picked up a pair of tongs from besides the barrel and began idly stirring the cold water. It wasn't time to take the metal out yet, but he felt like he should be doing _something_.

"Nevermind," Snotlout grunted, shaking his head and smacking his helmet a few times. "I'm awesome."

"Back to multi-syllable bragging?" Astrid asked, setting a hand on Hiccup's shoulder and startling him so badly that he dropped the tongs into the barrel. He hadn't heard her come up behind him.

"Ha," Snotlout said. "Yes. Sucks to be you. Hiccup, I want a saddle and I want it yesterday."

"I have an old one from Toothless that I can refit," Hiccup offered. "Just bring your dragon over and I'll have it sized–"

"No," Snotlout all but shouted, "I want a _new_ saddle. Bright and clean and shiny and awesome."

"Saddles don't shine," Astrid reminded him. She moved to the side and picked up one of the half-forged blades he had been working on the day before, examining the edge. "And you don't get to make demands."

"I'm fine with making you a saddle," Hiccup said, inviting a betrayed glare from Astrid. "But it will take a while since I'm making it from scratch, and I still need measurements."

"I'll get Fastlout the Thunderous to come around at some point," Snotlout said idly.

Astrid let out a cross between a laugh and a scoff, and then coughed. "Tell me that's not what you're calling it," she gasped.

"Fastlout. He's fast, he's awesome, and he's _mine_ ," Snotlout said smugly. "Jealous much, Astrid? Hiccup?"

"Not really," Hiccup said honestly. "What's the Thunderous for?"

"Came to me in a storm," Snotlout explained. "Related to Thor, Lightning and Death Itself… It works, unlike _Toothless_."

"I guess it does," Hiccup agreed mildly. "Any specifics for the saddle?"

"Make it better than yours," Snotlout said bluntly.

"And how will you be paying?" Hiccup continued.

Snotlout's eyes widened. "Paying?" he blustered. "I didn't have to pay for Hookfang's saddle!"

"First one's free," Hiccup explained. "But this is going to be a big project and I only have so much leather, so I have to get more from Johann or Berk at some point. That's going to be costly, so I'm charging you. Do you prefer gold or barter?"

"Gold!" Snotlout proclaimed. Astrid laughed in the background.

"You don't _have_ any gold," she said.

"I will soon enough," Snotlout retorted. "All I have to do is go to Berk and collect it."

"Without a saddle?" Astrid shot back.

Snotlout reddened. "Barter, then," he growled.

"How about I loan you my old saddle, you go get your gold, and _then_ I make you a new one?" Hiccup offered.

"Yes. That. Make it good!" Snotlout stalked off, undoubtedly taking his pride and leaving before Astrid could poke any more holes in it.

"Well, I'm going to be making a killing off this," Hiccup said idly, sticking his hand in the water barrel and fishing for his tongs.

"You let him walk right over you," Astrid said accusingly, her mirth gone. "I don't know how you're so calm about this."

"I don't know why you're so bothered," Hiccup retorted, seizing upon his lost tool and pulling it out triumphantly. "Sure, it's Snotlout, but it's not like he's _done_ anything except brag and put his own life in danger. A saddle will keep him safe, and I'm charging him a small fortune for it." Any amount of gold would let him get whatever he wanted from Johann without having to spend weeks making things to trade. It would be a huge convenience well worth the effort of making a saddle.

"That's not it," Astrid accused, pointing a finger at him. "I _know_ you know how bad this is going to be. Snotlout is an arrogant jerk, and the more power he thinks he has, the worse he gets. He's going to make a mess of _everything_ from now on, and there has to be a reason you don't care!"

Hiccup took a moment to compose his thoughts, the reasoning he had settled upon shortly after seeing that Snotlout had somehow bonded with the Night Fury. "Honestly," he said slowly, "it could be worse."

"Sure," Astrid snorted.

"No, really," he insisted. "There are _so many_ ways this could have gone terribly wrong. A Night Fury turns up out of the blue, immediately makes friends with Toothless, and then…" He waved the tongs to prompt her.

"Stays," Astrid said flatly. "I don't get your point."

"Leaves," he countered. "They could have left, and Toothless could have wanted to follow." _That_ was his worst-case scenario, ignoring outliers like the dragon hunters or other dangers that weren't present at the moment.

"He wouldn't leave you," Astrid retorted.

"Maybe not, maybe not even if I made him another automatic tailfin, but _I would be the one holding him back_ , forcing him to choose, to compromise on his own happiness." Hiccup stressed. "That would be terrible, and it could have happened. It could still happen. I'm happy to let Snotlout have a Night Fury if it means the Night Fury wants to stick around."

"Okay, I get that," Astrid sighed. "I do. But _Snotlout_? It might be fine if he stuck to bragging, but he won't."

"What do you think he'll do?" Hiccup asked.

"Puff himself up until he thinks he deserves to lead, then try and take over, and if he succeeds, he'll fly us to ruin out of stupidity," Astrid said bluntly. "If you let him walk all over you like you just did, we're doomed."

"Point taken," Hiccup said gravely. "If it comes to that, I'll set him down hard."

"That's a relief," Astrid admitted. "And what about Hookfang? Our dragons will be coming back any day now."

Hiccup frowned. Somehow, he hadn't thought about that. His first instinct was to assume Snotlout would welcome back his dragon with open arms and keep both happy, but that didn't sound like it would work very well. None of them had ever tried to have two dragons at the same time, that wasn't how it worked. Even Barf and Belch were _one_ dragon tended to by _two_ humans, the opposite of what Snotlout would need to do.

"If Snotlout looks like he's going to mess it up, I'll talk to him," he decided. "Maybe he has it all figured out."

"It's Snotlout, I'd be more worried if he _did_ have a plan," Astrid scoffed.

* * *

"Welcome to Jorgenson manor," Snotlout proclaimed, leading Fastlout up to the front of his hut. He rapped his knuckles against the wood and its coat of red paint. "Most dragons sleep in the stables, but Night Furies get to sleep at home." Hiccup did that with Toothless, so Fastlout would get the same privilege. It was obviously a status thing.

Fastlout chuffed and eyed the hut dubiously.

"It's great, and it's the highest point on the Edge," he said proudly, pushing open the front door and leading his dragon inside. It was cluttered and crowded, but that was fine, he could clean up if his dragon even cared.

But Fastlout took one look around, rumbled uneasily, and backed right out again.

"Yeah, it's a mess, I can clean it up later," he offered. Just his luck. Astrid wouldn't come into his hut, he _wished_ Ruffnut would stop breaking in, and now even Fastlout didn't want to go inside. It was like his hut was cursed.

Fastlout jumped out of sight, and by the time Snotlout made it back outside, his dragon was gone. He spun in a circle, wondering where he had gone. There was no sign of a Night Fury, though he did see someone climbing up the stairs leading to his hut.

"Snotlout!" Fishlegs called out. "Is the Night Fury around?"

"Should be," Snotlout replied. "Why?" He wasn't about to admit that he had been given the slip.

"I want to measure them, and test their reactions, and get their-"

"Okay, okay," Snotlout interrupted. He didn't _care_ about any of that, but at least Fishlegs was coming to him, not Hiccup. "You can find all of that stuff out if you find him."

"He's male?" Fishlegs asked.

"Of course," Snotlout blustered. The gods had given him a Night Fury to best Toothless, it would have to be a male.

"Okay… Can you call him down?" Fishlegs pointed up at the top of his hut.

Snotlout looked up and beheld his dragon, perched on the roof in plain sight. "Fastlout," he called, hiding his surprise. "Down!"

The Night Fury, who was pawing at the roof, paid him absolutely no mind.

"Now!" Snotlout barked.

Nothing happened.

"We need to work on commands," Snotlout said. "You know, it's only been half a day."

"I'll just wait until he comes down," Fishlegs offered. "In the meantime, could you tell me about him?"

"Yes, I can," Snotlout said with a smirk. "It all started on a dark and stormy night."

"Last night?" Fishlegs asked. Somehow, though Snotlout hadn't seen him take them out, he had a notebook and charcoal pencil in his hands.

"Yes, last night." He tried to remember what happened, utterly failed, and decided to make it up. "I was _not_ drunk, I had hit my head while lifting whole trees earlier…"

* * *

"I've never seen a Night Fury besides Toothless," Heather said, later that afternoon. She scratched under Fastlout's chin and was rewarded with a purr. "Is this really only the second one you guys have ever found?"

"The second one, yup, and he's _mine_ ," Snotlout bragged. "Night Furies tend to go for the most impressive Viking they can find."

"Do they?" Heather asked. "Hiccup was the most impressive?"

"Except Toothless, he probably hit his head on the way down," Snotlout added. "Got everything mixed up. Fastlout, on the other hand, knew Viking mastery when he saw it." He debated offering to continue this discussion in his hut, instead of outside of it, but he knew Fastlout didn't want to go inside. Offering that only to have him balk would ruin it.

"Sure," Heather chuckled. "I'm amazed by how friendly he is, after only a day."

"I'm good at teaching things," Snotlout claimed. He suspected Toothless' example probably had something to do with it, but that didn't mean he couldn't claim credit. It wasn't like Fastlout would call him out on it. "And good at fighting. And leading. And romance."

Heather backed away from Fastlout, and tossed him the other fish she had brought along. "The dragon needs to be taught any of that?" she asked. A small smile graced her pretty face, and Snotlout chose to see that as approval. What else could it be?

"Well, no, but I'm good at them. Having a dragon like _this_ just brings out the best in me," he claimed. "Interested in seeing for yourself? I could demonstrate."

"Not really, no," she said, turning away from him. "Just curious about the Night Fury."

Snotlout waited until she was out of sight to pump his fist. "Nailed it," he bragged to Fastlout. "Everything goes better when you're around." Fishlegs was coming to him for stories, Heather was interested…

He knew what came next; every good story about worthy Vikings getting gifts from the gods went the same way. All he had to do was claim it as his gods-given right.

* * *

Hiccup had not been optimistic about the odds of Snotlout rising above Astid's cynical predictions, but he was still amazed by how quickly she was proven right.

"You want to stab and _then_ twist it," Astrid said idly, leaning back in her seat. "Twisting as you stab is asking to hurt your wrist."

"Depends on where you stab," Heather countered. "If you hit resistance, sure, but if you're just cutting through flesh, it's fine."

Hiccup discretely pushed himself back from the central table, putting distance between himself and the fire in exchange for distance from the stomach-churning conversation Astrid and Heather were somehow having while not losing their appetites.

Fishlegs caught his eye from the far side of the clubhouse and nodded knowingly before going back to his chicken leg. He had the foresight to sit out of earshot from the moment Astrid had mentioned axes.

"Nothing like a good stabbing to whet the appetite," Ruffnut chimed in from the far corner of the clubhouse. "How'd you do in this chicken?"

"Speak not of murder," Tuffnut hissed, smacking her upside the head with a floppy chunk of yak jerky. "Cannibal."

"For the last time, just because you have a pet chicken doesn't mean I can't eat chicken," Ruffnut groused. "It just means I can't eat _your_ chicken."

"You already did," Fishlegs pointed out.

"No, I ate his serving of this chicken, just like I'll eat Snotlout's if he doesn't show up soon," Ruffnut huffed. "I didn't spear Tuffnut's pet and roast it on an open fire–" A piece of yak jerky slapped her face, and she abandoned her explanation in favor of trying to bite it out of the air while simultaneously punching her brother.

All in all, Hiccup thought to himself, it was a normal evening meal, aside from the lack of Toothless and Snotlout. He knew the former was still off running around with his new friend somewhere on the island, but the latter's absence was a mystery.

Said mystery was solved when the door to the clubhouse swung open dramatically and Snotlout sauntered in.

"Speak of the yak," Ruffnut quoted with a grin, "and he shall appear."

"I don't think that one was about yaks," Fishlegs corrected.

"No, but my version is."

"Silence!" Snotlout demanded imperiously.

Hiccup caught the warning look Astrid threw his way, and sighed. He really hoped this wasn't what she thought it was. Surely it would take more than a day for Snotlout to grow overconfident.

"By my right as the best rider present, I claim leadership of the Dragon's Edge," Snotlout announced.

"Is he allowed to do that?" Heather asked, speaking to nobody in particular.

"No, definitely not," Tuffnut said with a grin. "So this should be fun. Remember when we ruled the Edge, sis?"

"That wasn't fun," Ruffnut groused. "Not for long."

"Hiccup," Astrid prompted.

"Snotlout, you can't just claim leadership because you have a Night Fury," Hiccup said. "That's not why I'm in charge in the first place, and it definitely isn't enough to make you the best candidate to lead us anywhere."

"Or even second-best," Astrid added coldly. "That's me. Third is either Fishlegs or Heather, depending on what the situation is."

"The Chief is the strongest one, and now I'm the strongest," Snotlout blustered. "Therefore, I am in charge."

"Of nobody, given none of us accept that fact, even if you _were_ stronger," Astrid shot back. "Which you're not. I beat you every time we spar."

"I go easy on you because you're a girl," Snotlout retorted.

"I-" Astrid began, only to be interrupted.

"Astrid," Ruffnut called out, "in exchange for a week off of patrol duty when the dragons get back, I can make him eat those words. One-time offer."

"Snotlout…" Astrid paused, her hand halfway to her ax, and considered that. "You know what, fine. Do that."

"Hey, Snotty," Tuffnut called out. "Wanna know a secret?"

"No, I want you all to shut up and accept me as leader," Snotlout said sullenly.

"Nah, you can have it anyway," Ruffnut said. "Guess what me and Tuffnut happened across this afternoon, in the forest?"

"I don't care."

"It involves Fastlout," Tuffnut sang tauntingly.

"What?" he demanded.

"We caught our two resident Furies playing 'Hide the Sword'," Ruffnut crowed. "And Fastlout wasn't the one with the sword."

Snotlout's shoulders slumped as he took that in. Hiccup… didn't really know what to think of that. Fishlegs was practically vibrating in his chair with excitement, and Astrid seemed grimly amused, obviously caring more about Snotlout's reaction than the revelation. Heather, for her part, was smiling.

"So even by your own logic," Astrid said victoriously, "Toothless would either beat your dragon in a fight, or 'hold back'."

"And it's not coming down to a fight," Hiccup said, sensing that it was time for him to end this. He stood from his chair and faced Snotlout. "Nothing is changing about our command structure. Not now, in the middle of an ongoing war with the hunters. If you have a problem with that, you can go to Berk and make your case." Stoick wasn't _technically_ in charge of who led their group all the way out here, but if Snotlout went back, there was no doubt in his mind that Stoick would make the obvious choice and relieve him of his baseless ambitions.

"I'm not going anywhere," Snotlout muttered, ignoring his previous decision to go to Berk and collect on the gold he was owed. "You're all a bunch of jerks."

"And proud of it," Tuffnut said.

Snotlout spun around in the doorway and slammed the door behind him just as loudly as he had slammed it open.

"That was a pretty weak grab for power," Heather observed.

"It's Snotlout, the moment we hit him with something he didn't expect he lost his nerve," Astrid said scathingly. "I'm going to beat him black and blue next time he makes the mistake of sparring with me."

"I care more about what Ruffnut said than Snotlout's power grab," Fishlegs announced. "Was it true? Because Furies repopulating is _huge_ and Snotlout claimed Fastlout was male…"

"Oh, it's true," Ruffnut said smugly. "Take my patrols for the next month and I'll describe it to you."

" _Nobody_ is describing that to Fishlegs," Hiccup said, feeling compelled to stand up for his friend's privacy. "And you can't trade patrol shifts, there aren't enough of us to cover each other without running someone ragged."

"Fine, he can go watch for himself," Ruffnut said casually. Fishlegs looked like he was seriously considering it.

"Don't even think about it," Astrid said sternly.

"But the knowledge we could be missing out on," Fishlegs whined.

"Fishlegs, what goes on in secluded parts of the forest is none of our business," Heather added. "If they did it in plain sight, sure, but they obviously went somewhere private, meaning they didn't _want_ to be seen."

"Fine," Fishlegs sighed. "Is this why I wasn't allowed to follow Meatlug to wherever all the dragons went?"

"No, that's because they left in the middle of a blizzard," Astrid said. "You would have frozen to death."

"I don't know, he's got a lot of padding…"

Hiccup leaned back in his chair as the conversation turned to the usual well-intentioned squabbling. What Ruffnut had revealed was… not _unexpected_. He had wondered about the timing of another Fury showing up, and the way they had both immediately taken to each other, disappearing for large stretches of time… It was more of a confirmation than a revelation. A good one. Probably.

The door to the clubhouse opened once more, and Toothless sauntered in, looking immensely pleased with himself. He made a beeline for Hiccup's chair, and immediately curled up in a circle behind it, rumbling happily.

"Congratulations?" Hiccup offered, tossing him a scrap of chicken, which was promptly snatched out of the air. A thankful purr was the only response he got, but it was enough.

* * *

Snotlout kicked a clump of snow, and Fastlout blasted it out of existence before it hit the ground.

"You could have _told_ me," he groused, kicking another snowdrift. This one was a lot heavier than the first, and he only succeeded in burying his boot in it. "I looked like an idiot."

His Night Fury chuffed and eyed his foot as he tugged it out of the snow drift, clearly hanging on to his every word… or just waiting for another convenient target. He fashioned a crude snowball and tossed it into the air. It exploded above his head and showered him with slush.

"You're still awesome," he asserted, reassuring himself as much as her. "But you're not going to beat Toothless senseless and assert your dominance any time soon, are you?"

He sighed and threw another snowball, knowing he wouldn't get any meaningful answer. Maybe claiming leadership of the Edge this soon wasn't such a good idea… or maybe the gods were testing him by not making it easy. He wasn't sure yet. If another opportunity came, he would take it.

* * *

The next morning began with a flight up above the clouds, cold and windy as it was. The sun was always shining if one flew high enough, and Toothless had made for the upper skies immediately.

Hiccup leaned back in the saddle, his face to the warm rays of light that were so often missing in the winter down below, and did his best to ignore how rapidly the cold winds were making his nose and cheeks numb. He could enjoy it for at least a few moments… if he tried hard enough. It was enough to make him envy Toothless' ability to all but ignore the cold. At least his new gloves were working as intended.

"How do you do it?" he asked idly, voicing his thoughts as they glided above tumultuous mountains of cloud. "Is it your fire, or just that you're bigger, or do you feel it but not care?"

Toothless flicked his ears, looking back at Hiccup curiously.

"I mean, you're tough, obviously," Hiccup continued. "But so are dad and Gobber, and they've lost toes to frostbite. I don't think that happens to dragons, so _something_ is different." It couldn't be a matter of bulk and muscle alone, else Fishlegs would be more durable to the weather, which was definitely not the case.

Toothless responded by firing a plasma blast out in front of them. It flared up into a fireball before dying away, and they ended up flying through nothing but a lingering draft of hot air.

"And that's the sort of thing that has me arguing with Fishlegs about how much you actually understand," Hiccup added. "It would be a lot easier if you just learned a few runes and told him so."

Toothless didn't respond, proving or disproving absolutely nothing. The clouds below them parted, giving a view of empty ocean for a few heartbeats before closing again. All was peaceful, and Hiccup was enjoying the moment.

"Hiccup Haddock the Third!" Snotlout yelled from behind them.

"Oh, gods," Hiccup groaned, slumping further back.

"I challenge you!" Snotlout continued, pulling up beside them on his Night Fury, riding bare-back. He had an oversized sword holsted on his waist, unbalancing him, and he had to lean to the other side to compensate. "For the right to lead."

"I refuse your challenge because it's early in the morning and we've already gone over this," Hiccup sighed. He didn't understand why Snotlout thought it was up to a challenge to decide who led. Just because that _sometimes_ worked on Berk didn't mean it had to work out here.

"No refusing!" Snotlout retorted.

Toothless warbled loudly, looking over at Fastlout, and she chirped back at him. Hiccup was glad to see that neither dragon was paying Snotlout's intentions any mind. Fastlout looked for all the world as if she had come up here to find Toothless in the first place, for how happy she was to see him…

Hiccup took a second look at Snotlout and noticed that he was lacking armor or a helmet, and shivering to boot. "You didn't even mean to find me," he guessed. It would be just like Snotlout to accidentally run into him and decide he was fated to challenge again.

"I _totally_ meant to challenge you!" Snotlout retorted. "It was my idea! Shut up and fight me!"

"No weapons," Hiccup said, holding up his hands and lying through his teeth. The knife hidden in Toothless' saddle was hard to get at and meant for saddle maintenance, but he wouldn't need to go for that, as he had a prototype weapon on his waist. It looked more like a spyglass than anything, hence his ability to lie and expect to be believed, but it was there.

"I don't care!" Snotlout leaned over, drawing his sword, and promptly overbalanced, dropping off his dragon with an undignified yell.

Fastlout chirped, rolled her eyes at Toothless, and dove to retrieve her rider. Toothless watched her go with wide eyes.

"No ogling your girlfriend while her rider is trying to fight me," Hiccup chastised. "Though I do appreciate you two not taking sides in this."

Toothless huffed and dove, bringing them down to just above the top of the clouds, where Snotlout had been caught. They were just in time to get a close look at him being tossed onto his dragon's back in a single, well-practiced motion. Hiccup wondered how many times Snotlout had fallen in the last two days for it to be such a familiar situation.

"Get closer," Snotlout demanded, glaring at Hiccup. His knees gripped the sides of Fastlout's neck hard enough that his legs were shaking, though she seemed unbothered by it, and he held himself far more carefully now.

"You first," Hiccup replied, wondering what Snotlout thought he was doing. Did he expect some epic duel above the clouds while he couldn't even stay on his dragon properly? Maybe if he had a saddle, but he was challenging the person who had agreed to loan him a saddle in the first place.

Toothless drifted closer to Fastlout, rumbling at her, and dropped down to fly below her, much to Snotlout's annoyance. A sword dangled down, swiping nowhere near Hiccup's head, and clipped one of Fastlout's paws.

Hiccup winced at the drop of blood that beaded up from the tiny wound, and Toothless barked angrily at Snotlout. Fastlout, for her part, dove to the side, spun Snotlout off of her back, and sent them both into the clouds, out of sight.

"That could be bad," Hiccup admitted even as he flicked the tailfin and signalled that he wanted to follow them down. Toothless pulled his wings in and sent them into a free-fall to catch up, and they passed into the wet, cold expanse of greyness, leaving the sun behind.

There was nothing to be seen in the clouds, and Hiccup didn't object when Toothless continued their vertical descent. They would catch Snotlout and Fastlout under the clouds, if at all. What worried him was what they would find when they did. Snotlout had hurt a Night Fury, and tolerant or not, that Fury wasn't happy. She had spent all of two days around humans that Hiccup knew of, and therefore had very little experience with them. There were a thousand ways that setup could end badly.

But when they emerged into the grey, bleak air above the ocean, wet and worried, they saw that all was well. Snotlout was sitting on Fastlout once more, his arms crossed in an unintentional parody of a child pouting, and his sword was nowhere to be seen.

Toothless rumbled out a mocking laugh, purred at the other Fury, and pulled ahead of her, flicking his tail in her face. Fastlout chuffed at him, then growled and flew faster, passing them in turn.

Hiccup crouched as Toothless began beating his wings at a faster tempo, recognizing what was about to happen. It seemed the Night Furies, not caring about Snotlout's intentions in the slightest, were about to have a far more casual contest of their own.

Snotlout was not privy to this unspoken intention. He twisted around to glare at Hiccup. "This isn't over," he said sullenly.

"It's just beginning," Hiccup answered. "Hold on tight, this could get-"

The words dropped out of his mouth as Toothless folded in his wings and flipped around, sacrificing height and momentum to turn around without actually turning, and Snotlout fell off his dragon once more as she did the same.

Toothless shot forward, and Hiccup learned that his dragon was not above taking advantage of his girlfriend's misfortune in a contest.

* * *

"I learned something about Toothless today," Hiccup said casually, trying in vain to push his hair back into something less wind-swept.

"Really?" Astrid asked, looking up from the array of weapons she was cleaning and sharpening in front of her hut. "What was it?"

"He takes after you when it comes to competition," Hiccup elaborated. "Not once did he stop to let Fastlout catch Snotlout when we were racing earlier."

"Ugh, that name makes me want to throw up," Astrid said. "And since when is that taking after _me_?"

"No concessions to help the one-legged man have a fair fight in sparring matches?" Hiccup said innocently.

"Your enemies won't wait for you to fix your leg," Astrid said dismissively. "Just like they won't wait for the Night Fury to retrieve her idiot of a rider. We're _not_ taking him into battle like that."

Hiccup looked out at the sky above the edge, where Snotlout was still falling more often than not, even when he wrapped both arms and legs around Fastlout's stout neck. It wasn't helping him stay on at all, possibly because he was used to having Hookfang's horns to hold on to. Night Fury ears didn't quite fulfil the same purpose.

"Definitely not," he agreed, watching Snotlout as he was dropped, caught, and tossed up into the air yet again. "Thankfully, the hunters don't do much in the Winter either. But Fastlout–"

"Any other name," Astrid begged.

"I don't have another name for her," Hiccup objected.

"Why not?" Astrid asked.

"Because it would either be better than 'Toothless' or worse, and either way I'm insulting one of them," Hiccup reasoned. "I'm not going to name her. Snotlout has, so I use that."

"Hope," Astrid proposed. "Loner, Star, Iris, Storm, the list goes on. Use any of those, they're simple and clean and _not_ full of smug Jorgenson stupidity."

Hiccup shook off the irrational certainty that all of those names were already taken _somewhere_ , and shook his head. "At least Fastlout is simple."

"It's Fastlout _the Thunderous_ , it's not simple," Astrid complained. "But whatever. She made the mistake of picking an imbecile who can't learn to fly with her without falling off." She pointed an accusing finger at the silhouette of Snotlout free-falling, and Fastlout efficiently diving below him to get him back.

"I don't think it's entirely his fault," Hiccup said, coming back around to what he had meant to say before they got sidetracked with names. "This particular Fury has never had a rider before, and probably isn't taking him into account yet." Toothless hadn't, not at first. None of the dragons had, but most of them had more natural handholds to work with.

"Still Snotlout's doing," Astrid argued. "He's the one who didn't bother borrowing a saddle."

"Maybe that's why they're coming our way," Hiccup proposed, seeing that Snotlout and his slippery ride were headed back toward the Edge, with only the bare minimum of falls and retrievals along the way.

"Maybe, and if it is, I'm leaving…" Astrid put a hand to her ax. "You're sure he's dropped the whole 'take leadership' idea?"

"Pretty sure," Hiccup said. There hadn't been any obvious surrender, it was _Snotlout_ they were talking about, but the defeated look on his face after Toothless beat Fastlout in their race had seemed to signal the end of that ambition, at least so long as his continuous falls hindered Fastlout enough that they couldn't do anything in the air with any efficiency.

"Then I'm out of here," Astrid grumbled. "I can't wait until Stormfly gets back."

Snotlout slumped onto the wooden planks of the Edge's walkways the moment he was over them, only a short distance from Hiccup's hut, and exhaled loudly. Fastlout, for her part, nudged at him once, chirped, and left him there.

"Hey, girl," Hiccup said warmly as she approached. "Toothless is inside, if you're looking for him." He pointed to his hut.

Fastlout rolled her eyes and chuffed, coming close enough to sniff at his hand. Whatever she smelled there – probably iron and fire, given he had been working with the forge earlier– had her wrinkling her nose and snorting at him.

"You'll get used to it," he assured her. She would have to, since his work often ended up going into Toothless' tailfin.

"I'm going to puke," Snotlout groaned.

Fastlout paid her rider's complaints no mind, instead purring warmly at Hiccup before bounding away, up to the top of his hut. She curled up there, taking a spot Hiccup had seen Toothless claim many times before, and closed her eyes.

"Hiccup," Snotlout groaned, "that loaner saddle…"

"Yes?" Hiccup asked.

"Keep it," was the gurgled answer. Snotlout pressed a hand to his mouth for a moment, visibly swallowed, and gagged a little. "I'll just wait until Hookfang gets back to go to Berk."

"Hopefully that will be soon," Hiccup offered.

"Really soon," Snotlout groaned. He cast an unhappy glance up at Fastlout. " _Hookfang_ at least knows when he's been bad."

Hiccup didn't particularly like Snotlout putting it that way, but he knew what Snotlout meant. Hookfang, had he tossed his rider around for the better part of an entire morning, would be contrite at the very least. He certainly wouldn't have dropped Snotlout off at the end of it without so much as an apologetic growl.

"And he has horns," Snotlout continued. "Nice, big horns to hold on to."

"If you don't want to ride Fastlout, you don't have to," Hiccup suggested.

"Nice try," Snotlout snorted. "You're not getting her away from me that easily. I can ride Hookfang, and she can fly next to us. Easy as that."

Hiccup suppressed his first response, which would be to question whether Fastlout would tolerate such an arrangement, and went with the diplomatic option. "I'm not trying to get her away from you," he assured Snotlout. "Just looking out for the both of you."

"Yeah, yeah," Snotlout said bitterly. "Whatever." He turned around and began the walk to his own hut, stomping all the way.

Hiccup looked up and caught Fastlout idly watching Snotlout. She shook her head, tossing her frills and ears, and let him make the walk back to his hut on his own.

* * *

Hiccup felt like a third wheel, or in this case, a third wing. In other circumstances, he would have walked away and left the two Furies alone.

In this case, walking away would mean jumping off of Toothless' back and dooming them both to a free-fall and a messy end, so walking away wasn't an option. "We could head back," Hiccup offered, yelling to be heard over the roaring surf below them and the morning wind winding through the rocks.

Toothless ignored him, focused on the careful curve he was flying. His wings were steady, and the one on the outside of the curve glanced across Fastlout's wing every so often, making contact and throwing them both off.

Hiccup didn't know what the slow, careful flying pattern both Furies were practicing was meant to be, but he could read the mood well enough to know that Toothless had eyes only for his girlfriend, or whatever she was to him. If it was an option, he would much rather leave them to it. The automatic tailfin idea would have to be revisited as soon as possible, so he _could_ duck out of things like this.

Fastlout pulled in her wings at the end of their slow circle, rolled under them, and bumped Toothless' underside in a risky move Hiccup would have admired had it not made him all the more worried about what was coming next. "Can I get off this ride?" he asked plaintively, patting Toothless' head to get his attention.

Toothless looked back at him, eyes wide, and barked in surprise.

"Yes, I'm still here," Hiccup laughed. "Who did you think was keeping you in the air?"

Fastlout barked something impatient from below, and Toothless rumbled back at her, tossing his head at Hiccup. She rose in the air, purred at Hiccup, and then growled at Toothless. Toothless warbled back sheepishly, shrugging his wings uncomfortably.

The most important part of this surprisingly transparent back and forth, at least to Hiccup, was the way Fastlout rumbled at the end and backed off, flying a good two wingspans away while still keeping pace with them.

Hiccup foresaw another round of enthusiastic questions from Fishlegs the moment he mentioned this particular interaction, and held back a sigh–

A strident, almost wolf-like howl split the air, and both Furies looked down. Fastlout growled warily, but Toothless roared back, responding to the distant Nadders, the largest of which had howled. He recognized Stormfly's call.

The first of the dragons had returned, and that meant the others were close behind.

* * *

All was chaos, and all the more glorious for it. A plethora of Gronckle hatchlings swarmed Fishlegs as he tossed out pebbles, Meatlug looking on approvingly. Barf and Belch, bereft of any young of their own, were blowing gas clouds at the twins and watching them dodge. Stormfly was presenting her two Nadder hatchlings to Astrid with glee, ushering the squawking little ones forward to be seen and admired. Even Windshear had a single young one to show Heather, who was new to this particular part of every year and loving it.

Hiccup was used to these moments, and used to not really being a part of them. Toothless was not only a male, and thus apparently not likely to bring back any young he might have had a part in making, he didn't even _go_ on the same trip the other dragons made every year. The misunderstanding about his helmet on their first Snoggletok had been nothing more than that, and subsequent holidays had proven that Toothless had no desire to go searching, and a tendency to be moody around this time of year.

Not any more. Hiccup could feel Toothless purring under his hand, and he knew where his friend would be looking. Fastlout was also new to all of this, and unlike Heather wasn't taking to it so well, instead lurking in a shadow to watch, wary of all the new dragons making a ruckus in the middle of the Edge.

He wondered what that would bring, and was once again thankful that Toothless' girlfriend, or mate, or whatever, wanted to stay. There would be no worry over losing his friend, and no worry over whether their friendship was harming the Fury. Everyone was here…

Except Hookfang. Hiccup looked out to the sky, now nearing sunset, and wondered where the Monstrous Nightmare in question was. The dragons had all come from different directions and arrived at slightly different times, implying they had gone different places, unlike back on Berk. Hookfang might just have gone somewhere slightly further out.

Snotlout's silhouette could be seen on the top of his hut, hammering something into the roof. Hiccup doubted that anything up there was in need of hammering, but it gave Snotlout an excuse to be at one of the highest parts of the Edge all day, watching and waiting.

Toothless slipped away from Hiccup, skirting around the edges of the celebration to approach Fastlout. She nuzzled him, and he led her into the crowd, purring at the dragons and hatchlings. Fastlout copied him, purring warmly, and was greeted in turn. Everyone was getting along.

Hiccup hoped that would last when Hookfang returned. Whenever that was.

* * *

Snotlout put aside his saw and stomped downward, sending a chunk of his hut's roof tumbling down into the interior, where it landed on top of a pile of shields. It would make a good addition to the general mess until he got around to cleaning all of that up. Really, he would be doing that right now, in the hopes of getting Fastlout and perhaps Heather to set foot in his hut…

But cleaning up inside didn't give him a view of the horizon in all directions. He looked up, hoping for a Monstrous Nightmare silhouette, and was disappointed yet again.

"You'd better get back today," he muttered to himself, casting about for the rudimentary trapdoor he had made earlier. Actually fitting it into the hole would be a pain, but he wasn't going to do that, he was just going to nail it on top.

The noises of happy reunions had died out, and he chanced a look down at the rest of the Edge. The big crowd from earlier had dispersed. The only sign that the other dragons were back was the ominous clouds of smoke coming from the Twins' hut, and the trio of Gronckle fledglings eating Fishlegs' stupid rock garden.

Fastlout was nowhere to be seen, either. She certainly wasn't up here with him. He couldn't see her around Hiccup's hut, or on top of it as she so often was. Wherever she was–

A distant roar almost made him fall off his hut, and he did drop his hammer. He looked up to see an unmistakable silhouette in the distance, just as he had hoped.

"Over here!" Snotlout yelled, standing and waving his arms. Hookfang was approaching rapidly, and Snotlout was looking forward to a spirited Viking reunion, complete with head-butting and yelling.

Which, now that he thought about it, _might_ not work out so well on a narrow, sloped roof. He quickly and haphazardly hammered the trapdoor down, resolving to come back to it later, and descended before Hookfang could arrive. By the time he was out in front of his hut, his dragon was almost there.

Hookfang roared loud enough to rattle Snotlout's bones, and Snotlout yelled back. His big, red Monstrous Nightmare landed with a thump and bowled into him, smacking him against the front of his hut and pinning him there.

"What took you so long?" Snotlout demanded, wheezing as his dragon's horned nose pressed against his stomach and made it hard to breathe. "Everyone else is already here."

Hookfang huffed and pulled back apologetically. Snotlout head-butted him and fell to the ground, seeing three of his dragon. He felt like he was forgetting something, but he couldn't quite remember what. "Good to have you back!"

* * *

A loud roar half-woke Hiccup, and the thump of Toothless leaping off his rock succeeded in pulling him the rest of the way out of his slumber. He sat up and immediately fumbled for his prosthetic.

Another roar broke the silence of the edge, this one much more brazen. Toothless hesitated, halfway to the door, and tilted his head. Even in the flickering light of a dying fire, Hiccup could see his friend's pupils dilate a little. Not all the way, not even close, but somewhat. Toothless knew that roar, just as he knew the first one. They both did.

A Night Fury screeched in the distance, and a Nightmare responded with a deeper roar, just like before.

"Great," Hiccup groaned, shrugging on a heavy coat even as Toothless spun and lunged for his saddle. "I hope we get there in time. This was the last thing we wanted to happen."

The intermittent roars continued as he and Toothless scrambled to get ready to take to the air, not faltering in the slightest. The night was cold and clear, and when Toothless did eventually leap into the air, Hiccup on his back, they could see exactly where they needed to go; the top of Snotlout's hut, where two dragons were facing off.

They were not the only ones to fly toward the deafening dispute; the only ones _not_ there were Fishlegs and Meatlug. But every time another dragon closed in on the rooftop, either Hookfang or Fastlout fired a warning shot.

"They don't want interference!" Astrid yelled the moment he got close. "Not from us."

"Toothless probably gets a pass," Hiccup reasoned. Whether he believed as much or not, they were about to find out; Toothless was headed directly for the rooftop. He let out a roar, loud and long–

Fastlout roared back at him, and Toothless flinched away. He grumbled and turned around, joining the wide circle the other dragons were flying around the hut.

"Never mind," Hiccup called out. "Ideas?"

"Someone go down there, break into the hut, and drag Snotlout out here," Heather proposed. "He might be able to fix this."

"Snotlout doesn't _fix_ things," Ruffnut drawled. "He breaks them."

A reply was on the tip of Hiccup's tongue, but sudden movement from the rooftop got his attention. Hookfang snarled at Fastlout, showing a mawful of wicked teeth, and fully burst into flames. Fastlout snarled back and began building up a blast.

A chunk of wood in the middle of the hut's roof began rattling. Both dragons paused, confused, and stared at it.

Then it flung open, and Snotlout emerged between them, climbing up a ladder. "What is going on?" he demanded.

"Since when does he have a trapdoor on the roof?" Tuffnut asked.

"I don't know, but we're totally using that next time we work on operation Sabotage," Ruffnut said cryptically.

Hookfang growled irritably at Snotlout and jerked his head at Fastlout.

"Don't start trouble," Snotlout retorted. "You two can get along just fine."

Fastlout snarled at Hookfang, her teeth on full display. She took a step forward and shoved Snotlout behind herself–

Hookfang leaned over and picked Snotlout up by the back of his tunic. "Hey!" Snotlout objected. "Stop that!"

Fastlout reared up and latched onto one of Snotlout's boots with her teeth, tugging back.

"I never thought I'd see someone _actually_ torn apart by their suitors," Ruffnut laughed.

Hiccup didn't think either of the dragons wanted to do that, but they _were_ tugging enough that Snotlout was completely off the ground, held out at an angle between the two of them. If he had any way to _get_ there he'd be considering intervening, but all he could do was watch.

"Stop it!" Snotlout yelled, batting at Hookfang's head with his hands, while also kicking at Fastlout with his free foot. That resulted in both dragons dropping him at the same time, and he hit the roof with a muffled thud.

Fastlout glared at Hookfang. Hookfang glared at Fastlout.

"Just… get along, will you?" Snotlout said breathlessly. "There's enough Lout for two."

Fastlout stuck a paw out, prodding Snotlout with it, and growled.

Hookfang shook his wings out, snarling angrily, and did the same with one of his talons.

"Yeah, share," Snotlout said faintly.

Hookfang tossed his head and leaped off the hut. Fastlout barked victoriously, but Hookfang growled up at her from the ground in front of the hut, and she quirked her head, then leaped down to follow him, leaving Snotlout on the roof.

Hookfang stuck his wing out against the front of the hut and jerked his head, shoving his face close to the red-painted wood and looking at it closely, then examining his own wing in an exaggerated fashion. Fastlout followed suit for a moment, then reared back and roared at him.

"This is less interesting," Ruffnut complained.

Hookfang roared back, then took off, flying across the Edge, toward the dragon stables. Fastlout followed without hesitation, landing beside him. When he shoved the large doors open and stalked in, she followed, and Hiccup lost sight of them.

"Has she ever gone in there before?" Heather asked nervously. "Because dragons do a lot with smells and marking territory."

"So?" Tuffnut asked.

"So Snotlout and Hookfang spend a lot of time in there," Heather explained. "If–"

Fastlout reemerged and leaped into the air. She flew at full speed back to Snotlout's hut, circled it once, and screeched at the top of her lungs before flying off into the night.

"Yeah, that," Heather concluded in a hushed voice.

"Should we be worried?" Hiccup murmured, patting Toothless' head. His friend looked back at him and chuffed. Hiccup wasn't sure, but if he had to guess he'd say Toothless was mildly annoyed. Maybe nervous, but hiding it.

"I'll take your word for it," he agreed. "If you want to go after her…" Snotlout didn't seem to be going anywhere, so they would be the only ones following.

Toothless shrugged his wing shoulders, but when he dropped out of his glide, it was to angle them back to the hut, not out toward where Fastlout had flown.

* * *

The morning dawned bright, sunny, and bleak, at least for one unhappy-looking Viking gathering supplies from the storehouse.

"I'd ask where you're going," Hiccup remarked from the doorway, "but that's pretty obvious. Why do you need so much yak jerky, though?"

Snotlout turned from stuffing jerky into a sack, meat in one hand and canvas in the other. "Hookfang's gone too," he explained. "He never came back to the hut, and he's not in the stables…"

Hiccup winced; that was pretty much the worst-case scenario, but he couldn't say he was particularly surprised. "Ouch."

"Yeah, _ouch_ , laugh it up," Snotlout huffed, jamming the last of the jerky into the satchel and throwing it over his shoulder. "It'll take forever to search the island and find them, if they're even still here."

"I'd be more worried about what you'll do after you find them," Hiccup suggested. He _could_ sit back and see how this played out, like he had the night before, but that didn't feel right. Not when Snotlout was clearly about to make the same mistake a second time. "Did you consider why they've both left?"

"They threw a fit because they don't like each other yet?" Snotlout guessed, a lilt in his voice suggesting he wasn't sure. He brought the sack forward and began passing it from hand to hand.

"Hookfang came back and found another dragon laying claim to you," Hiccup recounted. Hopefully if he framed things right, Snotlout would come to his own conclusions and actually think about what had happened. "Fastlout saw a random dragon flying up and claiming you, but then he showed her that he had been there first. One of them thinks you've replaced him, and the other thinks she's about to be replaced, or that you're not loyal to start with since she's a replacement for someone who clearly doesn't want to share." Hookfang's motives were a lot easier to deduce than Fastlout's, but he thought he had the right of it.

"So?" Snotlout asked brusquely. "What's the point? I want them both back."

"The point is you might have to pick one, or lose both of them for good," Hiccup said gently, neglecting to mention that such a choice was dependent on them both still being around to make up with. Snotlout might have _already_ lost them both.

"And you're going to tell me to pick Hookfang," Snotlout grumbled morosely.

"I'm not going to tell you anything about which to choose," Hiccup retorted. If he gave an opinion, Snotlout might choose the opposite just to spite him. He knew which he _would_ advise Snotlout pick, but he wasn't going to say. "Just that you might have to make a choice."

"Maybe…" Snotlout tossed the bag over his shoulder once more. "You're right. If I can even find either of them."

He left, and it wasn't until he had walked away that Hiccup realized he still didn't know which Snotlout had decided to pick.

* * *

"I would ask which he picked," Astrid said later, "but it's obvious. Unless he only found one of them?"

"He found both," Hiccup replied, kicking his good foot idly. They were sitting on one of the many walkways, their legs dangling as they watched the setting sun… And Snotlout, who was doting on a certain dragon out in front of the clubhouse, tossing fish and generally trying to apologize by way of food.

"In one day, on foot," Astrid murmured. "That's sort of impressive."

"Well, the Night Terrors might have led him to them," Hiccup replied. "They don't really like dragons wandering around in their territory, even if they know one of them. I'm more impressed that he thought to follow their lead instead of just searching on his own."

"And you're not disappointed?" Astrid asked, looking over at him.

"On the one hand, a bond formed over years, and on the other a dragon of status and power?" Hiccup asked. "No, I'm not disappointed that he chose Hookfang."

Snotlout threw another fish, and Hookfang stuck his neck out to bite it out of the air.

"But the Night Fury," Astrid remarked. "What if she leaves?"

"I don't know, but that's not Snotlout's responsibility, is it?" he asked. "And honestly… Being loyal to his friends, giving up his chance at fame and power?"

"Fat chance of either of those no matter what he chose," Astrid said. "But yeah, I get what you mean. It was the right choice."

"Which means there's only one more thing to worry about," Hiccup added. "What Fastlout does next."

"I thought you weren't going to worry," Astrid teased, throwing an arm over his shoulder.

"No, I said I wasn't disappointed." He leaned into her embrace. "Very different things, those two." Snotlout had made the right choice, but that didn't mean life would reward them all with a perfect outcome. Sometimes the right choices still had consequences.

A joyful roar echoed across the Edge, and two black blurs ran into sight, racing along the clifftops and leaping from place to place. They were there and gone in moments, a fleeting sight illuminated by the setting sun.

"Looks like she's not going anywhere," Astrid remarked. "Better brush up on your carpentry."

"Why?" he asked, momentarily confused by the seeming non-sequitur.

"The twins are liable to start running guided tours if they don't have somewhere private to go," Astrid said with a smile.

"Oh. Right." Something both wonderful and terrible occurred to him, far more than needing to build the Furies a hut. "Oh, gods. Eggs."

"Eggs…" Astrid repeated. "Explosive eggs."

"I'll build their hut out of stone," he decided.

 _**Author's Note** _ **: I had the first 80% of this written months ago, but for some reason didn't finish it off until now. I really need to stop doing that.**

**Anyway, this story came about because I wanted to write a Race to the Edge episode, or at least a one-shot with that theme. About episode length in plot, dealing with something in that part of the timeline, and totally canon up to the beginning of the episode.**

**But that wasn't the only thing. I've always disliked how the tv shows, for all their flaws, weren't** _**allowed** _ **to touch certain plot beats and topics, because those were reserved for the third movie (this isn't an exaggeration, I recall reading that they were directly told what not to do). Actually finding other Night Furies was obviously one of those forbidden concepts, given the utter lack of them past a fake-out in Riders of Berk… and all for nothing, because the third movie's take on it was 'lol, what Night Furies, have an off-brand version that won't even live up to its own potential as a concept** _**or** _ **as a character.' The shows couldn't really have stolen the thunder from** _**that** _ **travesty, and they could hardly have done worse.**

**Thus, this was my take on how a secondary Night Fury might be introduced to Race to the Edge.**


End file.
